Belly up to the table for fresh food

Ravioli sizzling in a pan. The smell of squash cut in half and holding Asian pears in a curry sauce. The surprisingly tasty mix of potatoes and noodles in the same bowl.

These were what Peecoon Allen of Battle Creek was making for lunch Monday, but they were also getting tested, tasted and readied to be shared with the community.

At 7 p.m. Thursday, dinner will be served at the second Farm to Belly event in the area. This time, the place is the Springfield Farmers Market, 503 Military Street, Springfield.

Allen's Umami Ramen will provide several courses of food, complemented by desserts from Great Scott Ice Cream. Territorial Brewing Co., the site of the first Farm to Belly event earlier this year, will be selling craft beer. Pleasant Hill Farms is another ingredient provider.

Farm to Belly is a meal that uses locally sourced ingredients. It was created by Sprout Urban Farms as a way to give some local food growers some business and raise funds for Sprout's Farm to School programming.

Sprout's Jeremy Andrews said the event hits all the criteria when tested against the group's mission statement of "Helping community prosper through food education and enterprise."

Back in Allen's kitchen, she moved between cooking dough for the cheese-filled ravioli and preparing a curry sauce as the aromas mixed in the air. She said it's all in the sauce: a tomato sauce makes a dish Italian. Keep the food the same but change it to a ginger sauce, and you get a Chinese dish.

Allen, who said she's of Thai descent, has been cooking all her life and spent time working a Japanese restaurant kitchen. She said having black friends and family brought in a soul food flavor to meals.

The food in her family was a way to communicate.

"The way my family interacts, we talk about food," Allen said. "My mom cooks all our favorite dishes, my friends ... I think we learn so much more about people and food in what they eat culturally."

Allen said she cooks to see the looks on people's faces when they eat, whether they're Umami Ramen customers at a farmers market or her husband, Lance Allen.

"Just eating fresh food is so amazing," Allen said. "I just want people to experience that deliciousness, I think."

Everyone at the event, which has limited space, will get to see others' faces as well. Springfield Farmers Market Manager Mercedies Angus said instead of individual tables, there will be one really long table.

Angus said the doors open at 6 p.m. with a cocktail hour, followed by the meal in a relaxed environment. The cost is $50 per person. Angus said much of that goes to the food cost, and the remainder goes to Sprout.

"Before each meal, or during when they serve it, Jeremy will get up and explain where the food came from," Angus said. "We'll have Peecoon talking, what was her inspiration for each dish."

A jazz trio will perform for diners, as well.

Allen talked about the relationship people have with food outside of America, in countries where food markets are commonplace and people feel their food before taking it home. She talked about big box stores here finally coming around to the idea of using locally grown food.

She also, though, said her favorite food to eat was a simple, undressed salad. It's uncomplicated, like her reason for making food in the first place.

"I want to show them the love I put into every dish," Allen said, "and I want them to taste that love."

Contact Andy Fitzpatrick at 269-966-0697 or afitzpatrick@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on Twitter: @am_fitzpatrick

If you go

WHAT: Farm to Belly dining event.

WHERE: Springfield Farmers Market, 503 Military Street, Springfield.

WHEN: 6-9 p.m. Thursday.

COST: $50 per person.

INFO: There will also be a silent auction at the event. For more information, check out Springfield Farmers Market on Facebook, call them at 441-9273 or go to www.sprouturbanfarms.org.